turned his attention to the Latin classics. He also
married thedaughter of a prosperous master-printer,
Andreas Torresanus3 whose interest in maintaining
a good standard in his own work had been proved
twenty years earlier, when he purchased the types of
Jenson after the latter's death. After this marriage,
and perhaps before, Aldus had the advantages of his
father-in-law's establishment and advice. The first
of his Latin classics was an edition of Lucretius in
quarto, which came out in 1500. This was followed
the next year by Virgil, Horace, Juvenal, Persius,
and Martial, each in a format hitherto unheard of
for a scholarly book, These were little books,octavos
measuring about 6 by 4 inches. The success of the
idea was immediate; the series became the "Every-
man's Library" of that day.

Aldus placed the ancient classic authors within
the reach of all, in editions prepared with scholarly
skill, carefully edited, and accurately printed. Con-
temporary praise was effusive as well as sincere, and
the authorities of Venice and the Papacy granted
him their protection in the exclusive rights to his
idea. Even more convincing was the flattery of imi-
tation. The Aldine octavos, and the type which
made them possible, were copied, so closely as to be
almost indistinguishable, by more than one enter-
prising rival. These pirated editions appeared at
Florence and at Lyons, and almost certainly also
in Venice; it has been suggested that some of the